Comic for Thursday, July 13th, 2006

Posted: 12:01 am, Thursday, July 13th

For one brief, shining moment when I was writing this post, I thought today was going to be Friday, and I was like, "Sweet, it's a Friday the 13th and my buddy Ondy loaned me the box set last week. I'm going to watch slasher flicks all night!" But then I realized it's only Thursday. Still, I'm getting a burger and some beers with two of my collitch buddies, one of whom I haven't seen in a few years, so that's basically a draw. Oh, hell, I'll give the decision to my actual friends over the hockey-masked psychopath.

My dear friend CK, who evidently can pull off Hottt CK or just Triple T or something like that (I've never seen anyone go for more than hott, but CK, she is magnifique, so), guests on this week's Pottercast over at the Leaky Cauldron, which is either the most popular Harry Potter fansite on the web or second, to Mugglenet, run by some lucky kid who's there for the Robot Genius' reign instead of Bob Davie, like I was. CK and the Leaky Cauldron proprietors talk about minutiae of Harry Potter with a recall of detail that I find stunning. Also, they use the same 1940s horn and drum intro that the Retrocrush podcast does. I find this amusing.

Never have I been more certain that no one will care about a link than I am with this one. This site is a shockingly in-depth look at Apartment 3-G throughout the ages, with a focus on the art of Alex Kotzky, who drew the site for about forty years. Reading that page actually made me feel bad for ignoring - nay, scoffing at! - the strip for my entire life, because the dedication that Kotzky had to strip is practically heart-breaking.

In a recent article written by Kotzky's son Brian, who assisted then succeeded his father as the artist on 3-G, the son reveals "as far back as I can remember, Dad did nothing but work. No vacations, no hobbies, no sitting around reading the Sunday paper--it was a life spent at the drawing board."  The elder Kotzky once admitted, "My ambition is to find a quicker way to do my strip and take a three day vacation."  Kotzky never found that time away from his studio for more than 35 years.  When he died on September 26, 1996, at seventy three, in New York City of a massive stroke, he still had a half-finished Sunday page on his drawing board.  

I really hope 2.0 never comes home to find me slumped over my Wacom tab with Pete in mid-insult. Anyway, the art on the strip back in the day when comics really had room to breathe on the newspaper page was really pretty outstanding, and the original concept of the strip - first apartment, first jobs, love in the city - is disturbingly close to the basic idea of this strip. Trust me, it is with no small degree of horror that I find that I am somewhat modernizing Apartment 3-G.

Not that anyone cared about those last three paragraphs. Moving on, Zero posted this guy's original post yesterday, and here's his latest, explaining that he knew that the Onion was satire, and his column was a joke. Yep. Anyway, whichever side of the abortion issue you fall on, the site of a blogger arguing with the Onion is a good time all the way around.

From Fark, the first line of the worst novel ever. I haven't gotten far enough to see if anyone posted the opener to the Da Vinci Code.

The University of Oregon has decided that, to take attention away from their cornea-scarring uniforms, they should make their athletic department website so abrasive that it actually melts the lenses of your eyes. They must be using the MySpace design template. (Shoot, my work computer, where I first saw that page, must be set brighter than my laptop at home, because when I just looked at it again, it wasn't nearly as wretched. Well, the joke's written and I like it, so I'm sticking with it.)

Speaking of, let's roll some MySpace wretchedness and get on with our days. Actually... Huh, MySpace is being goofy. I'll try again in a while and if it doesn't work then, you may all be spared. Shoot, it came back. Well, here it is - don't miss the 40 or so angry messages from someone who thinks today's nightmare stole from them, or the Countdown to Otakon. I actually know what Otakon is, thanks to the Ninjaconsultants, but, geez, a countdown? Also, Slipknot. Wow.

bullfrog

Ugh, that should be "the sight" of a blogger arguing with the Onion.

At least the University of Oregon doesn't feature a) a blue-matted football field or b) pink locker rooms for the visiting team.

Considering the U of O is pretty much HQ for Nike, I'd put the blame completely on them.

Three reasons why Friday is better than Apartment 3-G:

1. Characters actually swear and drink until they're drunk. 2. There's comedy, even if it's just beaning Pete with a baseball. 3. You don't have your characters use the exclamation point after every sentence they've spoken! It's really so annoying! Yes, really!

I actually thought you were talking about the Ice Cube movie for a brief second there. I thought, "What odd and disparate things to compare."

There was nothing funnier than Boston Collitch being shipped out to the smurf turf for their bowl game this past year. Couldn't happen to a more upstanding fanbase.

Actually, some of the blame has to go to the Oregon players, since their input helped guide Nike to those disasters. Not that Nike wouldn't've gotten there anyway, and not that Nike should've listened to hyperthyroid twenty-year olds, but, still.

Since Obama has been a topic of conversation of late, I'll throw down this link: http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2006/7 /11/213428/301

It's an interview with Obama about "the speech" with PastorDan, one of the lead voices on Street Prophets, which happens to be a really interesting site for progressives and liberals who also happen to be religious and spiritual.

Nice, ad. I'm finally almost done with Left Hand of God, which mentions a few of the same points that Obama just did - that, by insisting on keeping religion/faith/spirituality out of their speeches, the Dems aren't projecting value-neutral, but value-less. It allows the Religious Right and the politicians that will say anything for votes to dictate all discussion of spirituality in the country, and attracts those who just need to latch on to anyone that even approaches addressing the spiritual depression that our modern society breeds. Barack's onto something here, and I wish the other Dems and progressives would realize it.

this is hilarious! http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zidan eswf4pz.swf

Have hope, I do think that there is a growing movement in the Left for those who have spiritual/religious values to start talking about them to others. Obama is only one way this can happen. I think Carter is another, as are all of the small conversations a religious/spiritual person who votes Democrate can have with people of all bents.

Conversations help. Luckily, even those who were previously aligned with the Religious Right (Focus on the Family, et al) are starting to realize that their religion was hijacked by neoconsertative captialists only looking for money and power: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file =/chronicle/archive/2006/06/19/EDGDOIJIGM1.DTL

The article talks about the Southern Baptist Convention electing Frank Page as their president. This was an upset victory--he won over the hand-chosen consertative by reaching out to younger people and having a presence on the internet. Fascinating stuff.

What's got two thumbs and just got tickets to the 826nyc benefit at the end of the month with David Byrne, Dave Eggers, Sarah Vowell and Jon Stewart?

This guy!

I'm so jealous... (and that sounds like a really cool organization).

Indeed, it was the Left Hand of God...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_God_goal

Worth scrolling down a bit for the picture of Homer Simpson. I *so* wish that I could add that to my collection, in all its pseudo-airbrush glory.

Woah. did I make that mess?

No worries. Would've had it sooner but I was at lunch.

Astoundingly, according to the Comics Curmudgeon, today's Apartment 3-G features a hungover castmember.

http://joshreads.com/?p=677

McAdam v. Klapisch over on ESPN, about if the Sox or Goat Fuckers will win the division.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2515242

Aside from thinking Klapisch is the most insufferable homer in journalism, his arguments don't make sense, especially the one about starting pitching. He leans heavily on Wang-Mussina v. Schill-Beckett, as if those are the guaranteed matchups when the two teams meet again in mid-August. Basically, in Klapisch's world, if the two teams have their rotation set up ace v. ace, two v. two, it works out to the Goat Fuckers' advantage. The odds of the rotations coming out like that are pretty slim - also, he ignores that Boston's 3 and 4 pitchers blow the GFs' out of the water. Similarly, his 'Momentum' point is a little goofy because, while the GFs finished the first half on a 12-6 tear, the Sox did them better, at 17-5.

Add that to McAdam's point that the Sox have more home games remaining than anyone in baseball, and that Beckett's a much better pitcher at Fenway, and, well, giddyup.